Jottings from Fr. J.J.

PROUD MOMENTS!- As you read this, we as a parish are ending a week where we housed folks from South Oakland Shelter. I am so impressed with all of you. The homeless individuals were greatly served. Whether it was members of the staff, parish council, one of the commissions, or an individual parishioner, I witnessed St. Anastasia doing what it does best: Serving Christ! You shined our charism of hospitality. Great Job!

IT IS OUR TIME TO ACT- One of the worst storms in recorded history has slammed the Philippines causing appalling destruction and loss of life. Cities have been completely gutted, destroying about 70 to 80 percent of structures in its path. As I write this, 2000 are reported dead and the number is rising. Millions more people are rapidly running out of clean water, food, and other essentials. The typhoon affected an estimated 9.5 million people and displaced over 673,000. Half are taking shelter in evacuation centers, but more than 300,000 are sleeping in the open. There is a large Philipino community here at St. Anastasia. Many of their friends and relatives were affected by the horrible tragedy. If you are interested in helping rush emergency supplies to those in need you can make a financial donation and place it in this weekend’s collection (please put in a separate envelope marked Philippines’ Typhoon Relief) or you can go to www.aodonline , the Archdiocesan website, and make your donations there. Items like food baskets, shelter kits, and more will be delivered by Catholic Relief Services (Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic Church in the United States). Please do not forget to pray as well.

THE POEM YOU REQUESTED- Last week I ended my homily with a poem. Many of you asked if I would print it in my article. So here you go:
Anyway

“People are unreasonable, illogical,
and self-centered. Love them anyway!
If you do good, people will accuse you
of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway!

If you are successful, you will win false friends
and true enemies. Succeed anyway!

The good you do today
will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway!

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway!

The biggest person with the biggest ideas
can be shot down by the smallest people
with the smallest minds. Think big anyway!

People favor underdogs
but follow only top dogs.
Fight for some underdogs anyway!

What you spend years building
may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway!

People really need help but may attack you
if you help them. Help people anyway!

Give the world the best you have
and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway!”